Music Review for “Down To Ride” by Ace Drucci & London Blue
You get a really mellow and retro sort of r&b vibe from the music and the melody featured throughout this track. The sounds and the synths make for a gentle piece of easy listening. The rap vocal is quite fresh and unexpected, the spoken word style of the performance works well with the chilled out nature of what surrounds it, the deeper vocal contrasts well with the sung vocal as well, so the whole thing compliments itself effectively. The music has a real feeling of the 90’s to it, production wise for the most part, the sounds used seem to melt into one another, adding to that calm and relaxing atmosphere.
The third vocal to come in mixes things up further, it adds a little extra character to the piece, so you see the strength of the collaboration in full by this point. The musicality of the song has a certain simplicity about it, which makes it easy to listen to, and easy to focus on the individual voices as they step forward. The chorus repeats a pleasant amount of times, enough so to remember it, and to know when to expect it among the rap verses. You can also focus in on the lyrics each of the artists bring to the stage, which is a great effect, it makes it about those vocals, that expression, all the while keeping you calm and happy with a peaceful and enjoyable musical backdrop.
Everything blends together really well, and the changes in performance style keep things interesting right the way through. The hook, the sung part, adds the all-important familiar thread, as does the musical style – the synths and instruments featured, the riffs and melodies they add to the mix – yet the lyricism and the character of each verse adds a few new pages to the whole thing, so it’s a good balance of the comfortable and the unexpected.
By Rebecca Cullen
